Navy SEALs

Intro

Navy SEALs have been very much in the news lately because of the recent killing of Osama bin Laden. Their successful mission has inspired such an outpouring of hero worship, I feel it’s necessary to add a sobering commentary. The following essay, which I had posted on January 29, 2008 should add a bit of much needed perspective.

To anyone who reads this and thinks I’m about to bash this elite squad, I have only this to say:

There are real heroes in the world and among their number are a certain number of SEALs. There will always be efficient, government-sanctioned killers distributed among the various powerful nations of the world. And they are proud to do their country’s dirty work, though too often they’re just plain proud. They see themselves as some kind of superior being – better than others simply because they are physically stronger and can tolerate a lot of pain. And they will always have their admirers, though not always for the best of reasons.

But there are other types of elites and heroes which the world needs now more than ever before. If people want to focus only on the violent ones, the other type might come to be seen as unnecessary. But that’s not true – we desperately need the solid, spiritually-grounded peacemakers. Men of violence are plentiful; saints are not.

My Jan. 29, 2008 essay entitled:

19 Goddmans too many!

Intro

Marcus Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL, wrote a book concerning his exploits in Afghanistan: Lone Survivor. I am about to lay into that book, perhaps heavy-handedly. Some might compare my blows to those of hunters clubbing baby seals to death. However, as Marcus himself said in his book, "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." So I know Marcus will understand.

About all those goddamns...

I counted 19 uses of the word goddamn in Marcus Luttrell's book. And 19 is where I stopped counting. It surprises me that Luttrell, who describes himself as a Christian, would indulge in this blasphemy. And, please, let us call it that - blasphemy. For this word was not uttered in the heat of battle but was deliberately used in a book, which was written long after the battle was over. So, no excuses please.

I'm not sure who should shoulder the greater responsibility here: Marcus Luttrell (the lone survivor) or Patrick Robinson (established writer of fiction, whose name as coauthor appears on the cover of Lone Survivor). But I am sure of at least one thing: As a former Navy SEAL, Luttrell wouldn't shirk by saying, "This was my coauthor's fault."

I asked a Christian friend of mine about the propriety of a Christian flinging goddamns around like there's no tomorrow. Her eyes widened and she said, "It is forbidden. I wonder what kind of Christianity he's practicing." Maybe that's no small question these days.

A few details about the book itself

The complete title of this 400-page book is:

Lone Survivor:

The eyewitness account of Operation Redwing and the lost heroes of SEAL Team 10

The price listed on the book's jacket is "$24.99" - which I'm proud to say I did not pay. I read it while hanging around one of the Border's Book Stores in Chicago - specifically, in the in-store coffee shop.

During the summer, a lot of people bought it - jacking it up to the #1 slot for Best Selling Non-Fiction(?) [I'm getting to that.]

Apparently, this book will become a movie [please, don't let Sylvester Stallone anywhere near the set!]

Historical Background

On June 28, 2005, Luttrell's Navy SEAL team was deployed to capture or kill a top Taliban leader holed up in the Hindu-Kush Mountains of Afghanistan. This leader's location was known to U.S. military intelligence, which is why the stealth four-man SEAL team was sent in. There was a great expectation of success for this mission, of which Luttrell was the leader.

However, once close to the target area, the SEAL team was stumbled upon by several goat herders, who had taken their 100 goats out to forage. They were quickly and quietly taken prisoner by the SEALS, who then had to decide what to do with them. And to make this decision, they took a vote. That's right, they voted on whether to kill the goat herders or let them go, knowing that release would likely compromise their mission.

In Lone Survivor, Luttrell recounts several factors weighing in their decision:

·         Being convicted of murder once the Taliban communicated to the rest of the world what the SEALs had done. [How interesting that any Westerner would believe any such claim by the Taliban.]

·         Being discovered anyway, once the goat herders were killed [There was concern that their flock of 100 goats couldn't be quietly dispersed and that any villagers coming to look for the goat herders would be drawn to this flock - and therefore to the SEAL team’s position.]

·         Murdering these civilians in cold blood would be wrong - which Luttrell claims bothered his Christian soul.

Luttrell cast the deciding vote - to let the goat herders go - and soon thereafter a combined Taliban/Al Qaeda force numbering some 150 guerillas attacked the SEALs. All except Luttrell were killed, including a rescue force of 16.

To kill or not to kill [the goat herders], that is the question

It strikes me as rather odd that an elite military team would not know immediately what to do if discovered. This is why contingency plans are drawn up in advance. More to the point: If U.S. military intelligence knew where this top Taliban target was (located in one of a cluster of houses, surrounded by his army), why bother to send in the SEALs in the first place? Send in the bombers, instead.

If some argument could be raised that capturing this leader was the preferred option, then (once discovered, thereby nullifying that option) Plan B goes into effect - send in the bombers.

Why should Luttrell's group have worried about murder charges? How on earth would anybody find out? And even if the murders were discovered (in a provable way), George Bush would surely have given our heroes a presidential pardon. Of this, Luttrell could not have had any doubt, since he writes so glowingly of Bush as being a great president who understands our military.

Any necessary murders could have been explained this way: "Balance the lives of these four goat herders against giving up our mission. Failing to kill them would have compromised our position, causing mission failure. Moreover, knowing their position to be compromised, this army would have sought another hideout and their leader would be free to kill many more hundreds than he already has."

Is Lone Survivor a true story?

I read Luttrell's description of the battle and of his subsequent attempts to reach friendly forces. Personally, I found Luttrell's account to be an unbelievable glorification. How much is true and how much was embellished? That's hard to say, simply because I wasn't there. However, neither were any of this book's reviewers who speak so easily of this being a "true story." Luttrell has a definite advantage here, in terms of being the "lone survivor" - he's free to tell the story as he sees fit.

It is with good reason that skeptics speak of truth as being the first casualty of war. Is Luttrell a liar? Or was he guilty of only marginal embellishments? Or was he a white liar? Or, more to the point, was he a "red, white, and blue" liar? He certainly had good reasons to "over-write" and exaggerate his story, perhaps even being encouraged by our military to do so.

I might have more confidence in Marcus Luttrell's honesty and overall quality of character, if it weren't for all those goddamns. Why is it that I, a Buddhist, am bothered by this? Why aren't Luttrell's fellow Bible-belt Texans raising any voice of protest?

Or maybe God doesn't really matter to those who decided that a counterbalance (in the form of this book, complete with all its scarcely-noticed goddamns) to the embarrassment caused by the Pat Tillman episode was needed.

Reminder: Pat Tillman was a pro-football player who gave up a promising career in the NFL in order to enlist in the U.S. Army, becoming a Ranger. His enlistment was inspired by the 911 terrorist attacks, though he later became critical of US involvement in Iraq. Tillman was accidentally(?) killed in action by friendly fire. [The jury's still out on that one.]

Quotes from Lone Survivor, and my comments

QUOTE [from the book's jacket notes]: ...Luttrell fought off six al Qaeda assassins who were sent to finish him...  [Luttrell] crawled for seven miles through the mountains before he was taken in by a Pashtun tribe, who risked everything to protect him from the encircling Taliban killers.

COMMENT:  These six "assassins" were trying to kill Luttrell, who himself was sent in to assassinate a top Taliban leader. Let's be very clear about this: Though his orders were to "kill or capture" this man, could there be any doubt that capture was out of the question? Also, it's a bit disingenuous to describe "the bad guys" as "killers" - all members of all militaries the world over are either killers or are expected to be when called upon. So let's stop it with the "they're killers" routine.

QUOTE [page 9]: In general terms, we believe there are very few of the world's problems we could not solve with high explosive or a well-aimed bullet.

COMMENT: This type of delusional thinking has to be called on the carpet. If I am elected US president in 2008, thereby making me Commander in Chief, I fully intend to do just that.

QUOTE [page 312]:

...The enemy is prepared to go to any lengths to achieve victory, terrorizing its own people, if necessary, and resorting to barbaric practices against its enemy, including decapitating people or butchering them.

We are not allowed to fight them on those terms. And neither would we wish to. However, we could fight in a much more ruthless manner, stop worrying if everyone still loved us. If we did that, we'd probably win in both Afghanistan and Iraq in about a week.

But we're not allowed to do that. And I guess we'd better start getting used to the consequences and permit the American liberals to squeak and squeal us to ultimate defeat.

COMMENT:

That's right, Luttrell really wrote: "...we'd probably win in both Afghanistan and Iraq in about a week." A week?!  That sounds too much like a set-up line, to be followed by: "We lost in Afghanistan because we were stabbed in the back by liberals and their concerns for international law and following Rules of Engagement (ROE)." Oh, well, it's nice to have a scapegoat ready for sacrifice.

QUOTE:

It wouldn't have been much good if I'd been blasting away through the window at Taliban down the street when a couple of those sneaky little bastards crept through the front door and shot me in the back.

COMMENT:

"Sneaky little bastards?" What exactly were Luttrell and his team of assassins, if not sneaky? Or do we prefer to use the more elegant word stealth to describe our sneakiness. A rose by any other name...

Liberals, liberal media, and ROE

Luttrell takes a few swipes at liberals in his book. You know who liberals are - the kind who say goddamn a lot. The kind who don't share "our values" - which include virtual worship of our Commander in Chief because he's a fellow Texan. The kind who denounce waterboarding, and remind us that we had convicted Japanese war criminals of exactly this offense, calling it what it was then and still is now - torture.

As for following the Rules of Engagement, all U.S. military personnel are under orders to follow these Rules. These Rules have the force of orders issued by military command. Since when do following lawful orders without hesitation and without question become a problem for a US Navy SEAL?

Post Script

I know we all need heroes - someone to believe in, someone to emulate, someone of almost mythical proportions. History is full of them - on both sides of all conflicts. Even among the Taliban killed by Luttrell and Company. These guerillas had no way of knowing whether American helicopter gun ships were on the way, ready to blast their ragtag group to Paradise. They certainly did not have the training, pay and benefits, and superior weapons of their four American battlefield adversaries.

I find it fascinating that this militia band would have been so willing to suffer so many casualties, when they could have cut their losses fairly early on. Their commander must have been aware of the possibility that his whereabouts had been communicated to American reinforcements just over the horizon. Especially, why persist in tracking down one last remaining (though badly wounded) opponent [Luttrell], who was no longer a threat though could still kill if pressed?

Marcus Luttrell describes the rigors of his training in Lone Survivor. However, I wish that even a small fraction of that effort would have gone toward eliminating some simplistic and fuzzy thinking.

I know that some might think of me as being disrespectful or unduly harsh in this essay. However, I expect much more from members of our military than what I've seen in this book.

Steven Searle for U.S. President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

"These words are part of the ethos of U.S. Navy SEALS, ‘My word is my bond.' My sentiments, exactly, which is why I codify my word in the form of a written contract with America's voters. I am the only candidate daring to do this. My word, unlike George Bush's [then, and Barack Obama’s now], is no small thing." - Steven Searle

Contact me at: bpa_cinc@yahoo.com